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INTL Giveaway | Win Two Signed Copies of Battle Not With Monsters by Overton Scott

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Battle Not With Monsters

by Overton Scott

(A Neen Ford Thriller #1)

Publication date: March 8th 2014

Genres: Adult, Thriller

Victim?

Neen Ford is a loner, drifting from town to town, working as a security guard and teaching martial arts. One hot night in Dallas, she witnesses the brutal murder of a Ukranian prostitute and becomes the killer’s next target. Neen’s never backed down from a fight, but she’s never tangled with a human trafficking ring before. Until now.

Hero?

Naïve young women are being trafficked into the United States by Russian criminals. Someone needs to help them. The police are trying, but they’re not moving fast enough for Neen, who is now being stalked by a man who enjoys inflicting pain.

Vigilante?

How far will Neen go to save herself? How far, to save three young women from a life of fear and despair? And what price will she pay for battling the monster? There’s a thin line between hero and vigilante – will she cross it?

Guest Post

The Weaker Sex

Writing a thriller with a female protagonist is tough. Over the years, men have topped the charts in this genre, both as writers and as characters. The heroes of thrillers are tough, brooding guys who are good with their fists and know how to use a gun. They drink hard and bed beautiful blondes. They never back down from a fight and most have a heart of gold.

We’re not used to reading about women as the heroines of thrillers. Generally, women exist as an object to be rescued or used. Rarely does a woman come along who can hold her own with the men. Is that because she can’t?

You don’t have to look far to come across discussion groups or chat rooms devoted to the question of whether a woman can ever be a believable heroine, particularly if there’s action involved. She’s not tough enough. If she’s evenly matched with a male opponent, she’ll lose the fight every time. She can’t handle weapons. And on it goes. Some women would be offended by this characterization of women as the weaker sex, but if you’re writing a thriller with a female protagonist, you can’t ignore the issue. You must write a believable character.

When I created Neen Ford, the heroine of my new thriller, Battle Not With Monsters, I knew I’d have to deal with all the preconceived notions about what a woman can and cannot do. I wanted Neen to fight it out with the bad guys and I needed to find ways for her to that. I chose to give her a background in martial arts, specifically Brazilian jiu jitsu, a discipline which emphasizes grappling and ground fighting, and Muy Thai, the national martial art of Thailand, which focuses on striking an opponent with hands, elbows, knees and feet. Now Neen has the ability to wrestle with men, taking them down and defending against attempts to take her to the ground, where really bad things happen to women. Neen knows the male anatomy and where she should land a punch or kick. If she’s up against an untrained man, she’ll probably come out on top. But those skills are still not enough to protect her if her assailant happens to have a little martial arts training himself.

Now Neen has to rely on her brain. She’ll try to use the element of surprise to gain an advantage. No doubt her adversary will think she’s an easy target. If he’s over confident and underestimates her abilities, she’ll use that against him. And if he has an ego, then Neen will find a way to turn that in her favor.

When all else fails, there’s the leveling power of a firearm. Neen will recognize the necessity of buying a gun for self-protection and she’ll learn to use it. Women and guns are another tricky area a writer has to navigate. It’s helpful to really know something about them, before assigning a weapon to a woman. A woman’s choice of gun depends on many factors, including her mindset and attitude, her body strength and the size of her hands. That’s generally true of men as well, but a man with a .45 caliber pistol is automatically given a free pass while a woman with a gun that size might be doubted. Whatever gun your heroine chooses, you have to be sure that you’ve described her in a way that makes her choice a realistic one.

Personally, I love the challenge of writing a credible female heroine. Without the brawn, she has to rely more on her brain, and so do I.

Thanks for having me. I hope you enjoy the book, and that you’ll check out the first Neen Ford short story, Dead Wasps, available at Amazon, B & N and Smashwords. And anyone who cares to talk to me can reach me at neenford@gmail.com or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/scottneenford).

About the author

Overton Scott is the pseudonym of a national bestselling author. Overton is interested in a lot of themes covered in the Neen Ford stories: martial arts, the warrior ethos, personal responsibility, and the concept of justice. Like Neen, Overton doesn’t think that the guilty should escape punishment on this earth. Unlike Neen, Overton prefers to write stories rather than take the law into his own hands. It’s just as morally satisfying, but less dangerous.

As you are reading this, Overton should be working on the next Neen Ford adventure. But he’s probably at the gym, shooting or wasting time looking at funny pictures on the internet. You can contact him at neenford@gmail.com, if you’d like to discuss any aspect of the Neen Ford stories.

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comments

What a great guest post! And I would most definitely love Neen as an MC and be able to root for her. I love strong heroines and IMO we need more of them in YA. I'm not much for the damsel in distress types of characters, and I personally know plenty of women who would def fight back and most likely do a lot of damage if attacked, so it's not like strong females don't exist you know. Plus, intelligence can win in a lot of instances ;)

Hello!

I'm Aparna, an artist based out of New Delhi. In addition to being an architecture graduate, and now a full-time illustrator, I've been blogging about my love of books, decor & fashion since early 2011. I also post weekly comics about life as an introvert, (mis)adventures of reluctant adulting, the puppy eyed and much bearded love of my life (now husband), and my (very real) imaginary cat called Billi.